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Milk for the Cat
Harold Monro
About Harold Monro
Harold Monro (1879 − 1932) was an English poet born in Brussels to Scottish parents. He was the proprietor of the Poetry Bookshop in London. The bookshop helped many poets bring their work before the public, and was also an important meeting place for poets like T S Eliot. Monro operated a press which published many books, including his own collections like Children of Love (1915), Strange Meetings (1917), Real Property (1922) and The Earth for Sale (1928).
When the tea is brought at five o' clock,
And all the neat curtains are drawn with care,
The little black cat with bright green eyes
Is suddenly purring there.
At first she pretends, having nothing to do,
She has come in merely to blink by the grate,
But, though tea may be late or the milk may be sour,
She is never late.
And presently her agate eyes
Take a soft large milky haze,
And her independent casual glance
Becomes a stiff, hard gaze.
Then she stamps her claws or lifts her ears,
Or twists her tail and begins to stir,
Till suddenly all her lithe body becomes
One breathing, trembling purr.
The children eat and wriggle and laugh;
The two old ladies stroke their silk:
But the cat is grown small and thin with desire,
Transformed to a creeping lust for milk.
The white saucer like some full moon descends
At last from the clouds of the table above;
She nestles over the shining rim,
Buries her chin in the creamy sea;
Her tail hangs loose; each drowsy paw
Is doubled under each bending knee.
A long, dim ecstasy holds her life;
Her world is an infinite shapeless white,
Till her tongue has curled the last holy drop,
Then she sinks back into the night,
Draws and dips her body to heap
Her sleepy nerves in the great arm-chair,
Lies defected and buried deep
Three or four hours unconscious there.
− Harold Monro
Available Answers
- 1.
Match the phrases with their meanings.
1. large milky haze a. increasing desire for milk 2. ladies stroke their silk b. the cat is completely satisfied 3. creeping lust for milk c. dimming brightness of the cat's eyes 4. lies defeated d. the cat's supple body trembles with desire 5. her lithe body becomes One breathing, trembling purr e. ladies brush their silk - 2.
Complete this short summary of the poem.
'Milk for the Cat's is about a cat's wait for the 1______________ that is served every day at the poet's house at 5 in the 2_________________ The poem follows each of the 3________________ of the cat as she waits for milk. The poet describes the extreme 4_________________ with which the cat enjoys the milk and then buries herself on the 5_________________ in a deep 6_______________.
- 3.When does the cat start purring?
- 4.Why does the cat stamp her claws, lift her ears, twist her tail, and begin to stir?
- 5.How does the author describe the saucer of milk that is given to the cat?
- 6.What does the cat do after drinking the milk?
8 more answer(s) available.